By Reuben Olita, Busia
The stage has been set for the 5th edition of Busia Border Run scheduled for April 19, 2025 at the Busia Polytechnic.
The Busia Border Marathon Foundation organizer, Sarah Martha, said the 15km run will attract athletes cross to neighbouring Uganda and back.
Addressing the press outside the County Commissioner’s Office in Busia Town on Tuesday, Martha said the run will advocate for health and wealth.
“The other main objective of this year’s run will be to nurture talents among the youth, some drop out of school and engage in drugs and substance abuse,” she said.
She added: The run will be extended to Uganda to promote cohesion and peace between Kenya and Uganda with NACADA playing a key role in achieving this goal and that of eliminating drug abuse among youths of the neighbouring countries.
A part from 15km run, the athletes will also feature in the 10km, 5km, 100 metres, and fun races.
” Besides athletics, hospitals that are partnering with Busia Border Marathon Foundation, including Gifted Hands Regional Hospital domiciled at Bugengi and Busia County Referral Hospital, will offer free medical check-up on various ailments such as Diabetes, cancer, HIV. Blood donation will also be operational,”Martha said.
She added that patients with eye challenges will be offered reading glasses, a truck donated by NADA launched campaign the five-day sensitization exercise on Tuesday on the upcoming run across the country.
Athletics Kenya Bungoma Branch chairman Shem Ominde said the 15km run will feature athletes
Aged between 35 and 74 years, adding that athletics laws will be applied on winners who will be subjected to doping tests.
” Talent search is AK’s cardinal rule with winners to feature in county track and cross countrt events. Those who will excel will participate in national trial and possibly international meets,” Ominde said, adding that Ugandan runners will participate in fun races.
Director Gifted Hands Regional Hospital, Roseline Barasa, said the Level 4 health facility will offer free medical for Kenyan and Ugandan citizens.
NACADA county coordinator Zeka Wekesa said the cross-border run will bring peaceful cohesion between Kenya and Uganda, especially in the fight against drug and substance abuse.
“The run will help prevent drug abuse with Busia county recording 32% of people who engaged in drugs and substance abuse as per 2022 survey.
He noted that drug abuse among university students is very high, thus the need to devise strategies to reduce this trend.
Assistant County Commissioner, Calvin Monare, Kenya will work closely with their Ugandan counterparts to ensure the porous border becomes drugs free.
He said they had already mapped the route athletes would pass, adding that security had been put in place between the two countries.
